Sports centres

Two women in a gym

Listen to the people introducing two different sports centres and do the exercises to practise and improve your listening skills.

Instructions

Do the preparation exercise before you listen. Then do the other exercises to check your understanding.

Preparation

Do this exercise before you listen.

Remote audio URL

Transcript

A

Hi, come in. I'm Maya. Hello everybody. Welcome to the Grange Park Sports Centre. I'll just show you round the centre and explain what we offer here, and then you can ask me questions. Well, as you can see, this is quite a small centre but we offer a lot of different activities at different times of the day. If you'd just like to come through here, you can see the main rooms. These are nice and light and airy and we have a very good air-conditioning system so they are warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Here we have classes of yoga, tai chi, Pilates and Zumba at different levels. We also have different types of dance class: jazz dancing, Indian dancing and Latin dancing. Oh, and we've just started offering flamenco. All our teachers are fully qualified and experienced. We have beginners' classes up to advanced. Some of our students have been coming since we opened, ten years ago.

So, if you could follow me through here – mind the steps here – we've got the sauna and massage rooms. We have very reasonable prices for massages. And over here we have the gym with exercise machines. It's quite a small gym, but usually there's plenty of room for people to move around without any problems. OK, that's about it. Over there we have the changing rooms with showers. You do need to bring your own towel if you want a shower, but you don't need to bring a mat for the yoga and Pilates classes. Oh, and I must mention the café. It's just off the main entrance. That's very popular with our clients; we have a great selection of teas, fresh juices, sandwiches and cakes.

Right, the prices. You can join for three months, six months or a year and that gives you the right to use the gym and go to two classes a week. If you want to go to more classes or use the sauna, there's a small extra charge. For three months the fee is …

B

OK, let me show you the gym. My name's Bill and I'm the main sports trainer here, but we have a team of four specialists who are always around to help you with exercise programmes and give advice about lifestyle and diet. We strongly recommend that you talk to one of us as soon as you sign up and set up your personalised training programme. So, through here we have the main gym. As you can see, it's enormous and we have lots of brand-new machines. You can do everything here, running, cycling, rowing, weights … you name it. Although we have a lot of clients, it's very unusual to have to wait for a machine. Over there is the area for weight-training. If you want a closer look at the machines, you can come back later. Oh, by the way, you can only come in here with trainers on. No outdoor shoes, please.

OK, through here we have the swimming pool. It's great, isn't it? We're very proud of it. You can use it most of the time without booking, but there are certain times of day when we have swimming classes and water aerobics. There is always a lifeguard in attendance who will also offer informal swimming tips. OK, just over there you have the changing rooms and lockers, and on the right are the bathrooms and showers. We have our own shop, here, where you can buy our own brand of sportswear and sports drinks and supplements. Right, I can see you're impressed, and as I said, we're very proud of our centre. However, I should warn you that we are slightly more expensive than other gyms in the area – but then we offer a much higher level of services and a very wide range of activities. Here's a brochure with the timetables of the extra classes that we offer, such as boxing, taekwondo and capoeira and quite a few others, besides swimming activities: swimming classes, diving classes, water aerobics and water polo. OK, so have a look at the brochure, then you can speak to one of the secretaries in reception about the best combination of activities for you.

Discussion

Which gym would you like to join? Why? What would you look for in a gym?

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Average: 3.5 (10 votes)
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Comments

Submitted by sanyalearning on Thu, 12/14/2023 - 17:25

If i was there, I would prefer gym B because it has more weight machine specialises and also has a swimming pool. I'd like lifting weights and swimming, so i'd like this gym centre. Gym A is quite good, but Gym B is better in my opinion.

Submitted by platov on Sat, 09/30/2023 - 16:49

I must go to gym B because we can practise martial art.

Submitted by ExtremeBoka on Wed, 03/02/2022 - 00:03

In my opinion I would prefer the second one because there are many specialists and make an appropiate diet and they have a swimming pool :D
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Submitted by Elpro202 on Wed, 07/28/2021 - 02:35

I'm not planning enter a sports centre 'cause I'm still on school and also I don't need entering one.

Submitted by Kian_0367 on Thu, 05/13/2021 - 08:38

I would like to use Gym B because there are more activities than Gym A. Gym B has water activities than Gym A like kayaking.
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Submitted by Andrii on Fri, 04/16/2021 - 14:27

I'd like to join the gym "B" because I would use exercise machines to train my muscles.
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Submitted by Xuka on Mon, 08/31/2020 - 17:14

Last summer, I joined a gym that offered dance, aerobics, and swimming classes. I participated in the aerobics class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I also take a swimming class on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. I practiced regularly throughout the summer. And I felt that my health was improved significantly. To maintain my health, I continue the swimming class on Saturdays and Sundays. The swimming pool here is very large with seven independent lanes and has maximum depth up to 6 feet. Here have several washrooms and changing rooms for your convenience. The pool is also well maintained. So I think it's worth joining this gym.

Submitted by cookiepg on Sun, 08/30/2020 - 04:27

I like the gym A and gym B

Submitted by Mamou1 on Wed, 07/22/2020 - 10:23

Personally I would like to join the Gym B even if they don't have a good air-conditioning system. I chose the Gym B because what I look for in a gym are the machine, lots of machine can help you do more exercises . and also I love swimming , so if the life guard can help us to improve our swimming it' also better.

Submitted by BibekSanjeev on Sun, 07/19/2020 - 15:59

I think I'll go for gym B as it offers for facilities.

Submitted by yare8p on Fri, 05/15/2020 - 20:26

Iwould like to join to the B gym, because it has more machines and i could use them any time i want. The activity i would most like to do is swimming, i even would pay for classes. I like to play basketball, so is very importan to me to keep on excercising my arms and legs, that´s why i like to use excercise machines.

Submitted by Wilbert1 on Mon, 05/11/2020 - 02:36

I would like to go to one of the gym that I just listened to but with school and homework I don't have time to go, I love sports, like basketball and going for a bike ride.

Submitted by Aldenith on Thu, 05/07/2020 - 03:33

Well, I'm not going to the gym, but if I had to choose one it would be Grange Park Sports Center, because I would like to take dance classes

Submitted by cammmiloe on Fri, 05/01/2020 - 13:32

I don't like going to gym, I rather play sports such as table tennis or basketball, now that we're in quarantine I spending this time to practice ping pong almost every day with my sibling, we organized a schedule to play at list 2o hours per week, and I know we are going to be really good on it cause we have plenty of time in this quarantine, that I have no idea how much time is going to take it.

Submitted by Sofia_zps on Tue, 04/28/2020 - 22:29

I would like to join in Gym A, because I would study flamenco

Submitted by ZAYRA on Fri, 03/27/2020 - 17:51

In this activity I understand most of the words. Excellent activity

Submitted by Thu on Sun, 09/01/2019 - 08:26

I would like joining the gym A because I noticed the cafe in the whole listening part. I very love sandwiches and cakes. I already know I'm gonna be fat, but I don't care. HAHAHA :>

Submitted by dragon5dragon on Fri, 05/03/2019 - 08:57

I think I would join gym B, even if the price is higher, because the learning ways should be better. And I think that they are more profecionals than at gym A.

Submitted by PurpleandPink on Mon, 04/29/2019 - 03:16

I would love to join Gym A. I love Yoga and other dance classes.

Submitted by BillyHerrington on Wed, 02/13/2019 - 21:28

Who is the boss of this gym?

Submitted by Ekzort on Sun, 12/02/2018 - 15:45

I'd like to join gym B, because it has big assortment of machines, it has swimming pool and martical arts classes.

Submitted by Sevchik2002 on Wed, 04/04/2018 - 11:16

i mostly like gym B because there is all for good trains and nem machines
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